Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Alaskan (im)Permafrost
I woke up this morning and before breakfast I opened the door to bring in today’s edition of the New York Times. I enjoy reading the paper, or at least a few articles, over breakfast (and more often than not preparing a post for here at Coffeespoons.me). Some of the best days are when I open the door and find…
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The Solar Eclipse as Seen from Philly
Read on…: The Solar Eclipse as Seen from PhillyAs my last two posts pointed out, yesterday was the Solar Eclipse. It certainly garnered media attention as a news helicopter hovered over my building during the height of the eclipse. Very peaceful indeed. But, knowing that my smartphone would not be able to take the best photos of the eclipse, even with a solar filter, I decided to do what…
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Solar Eclipse Day
Read on…: Solar Eclipse DayToday is Solar Eclipse Day. Thankfully Vox has put together a great interactive piece to help you plan your day. This is for my viewing area in Philadelphia. We only max out at 75% of the sun, but that is still pretty fantastic. Credit for the piece goes to Casey Miller, Ryan Mark, and Brian Resnick.
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The Solar Eclipse
Read on…: The Solar EclipseIf you have not heard, the entire continental United States will, weather cooperating, be able to see at least a partial solar eclipse on Monday, 21 August. It is still too far away for an accurate weather forecast, but I am hoping that we have good weather in Philadelphia that day. Or else why bother working from home that day?…
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The New Dinosaur Family Tree
Read on…: The New Dinosaur Family TreeToday’s post is not a particular great graphic in that it is far from revolutionary. Instead, you could say it far more evolutionary. A new finding by Matthew Baron posits a rather unusual dinosaur named Chilesaurus, discovered in Chile as its name suggests, is actually a cousin to both the tyrannosaurs and raptors as well as to triceratops. (Get the joke…
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North Korea’s Missile Programme
Read on…: North Korea’s Missile ProgrammeAnother week, another batch of news and posturing from North Korea. So I was delighted to see last week a post from Politico exploring the history of the North Korean missile programme with data visualisation. This kind of maps are my favourite for these types of stories. So often people get locked into this idea of a Mercator or Robinson…
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Nobody’s Fault
Read on…: Nobody’s FaultWe made it to Friday, everyone. So let us end the week with an examination of the different type of geographic faults, as explained by xkcd. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
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Labour Marches On (into Tory Housing?)
Read on…: Labour Marches On (into Tory Housing?)We have a nice little piece from the Economist today, a look at the electoral majority for London-area constituencies and how their housing prices may begin to draw out priced-out Labour votes from London proper. What I really like from the design side is the flip of the traditional choropleth density. In other words, we normally see the dark, rich colours…
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A Throwback to Prior Kenyan Elections
Read on…: A Throwback to Prior Kenyan ElectionsKenya presently waits for the results of its presidential election, one that pitted incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta against Raila Odinga, a many ran but never won candidate. Now, if you will indulge me, the Kenyan elections have interested me since December 2007, which if you recall provoked sectarian violence to break out across the country. At the time I had just…
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Gowanus, Brooklyn
Read on…: Gowanus, BrooklynThis past weekend I was reading an article in the New York Times about how a diary from the 19th century may indicate a plot in Gowanus Brooklyn destined for development may contain an old slave burial ground. You may recall how this author’s hobbies include genealogy and family history—how I would love to find a 19th century diary. Then,…